1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a mouse trap, and in particular it relates to a portable electrical mouse trap in the shape of a cat.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mice make unwanted intrusions into the lives of people from all walks of life in this country. They are almost always pesky and unpleasant visitors when they enter a person's residence. When mice sneak into living quarters, homeowners and tenants usually regard them with contempt since they generally contribute nothing positive to their adapted surroundings. To the contrary, mice can cause considerable damage to the structure of a dwelling and can render an entire area unlivable if they are allowed to reproduce for a significant period of time. Furthermore, mice often carry insects and other undesirable animals with them and introduce these organic species into homes. Mice also leave droppings wherever they travel, including inside homes that are extremely unsanitary if they are not immediately detected and removed. Many farmers and individuals who maintain gardens also harbor a special loathing of mice since they often destroy or eat valuable crops and plants. Food store and restaurant owners must cope with an additional challenge of protecting their inventories from mice in order to comply with local and state health code requirements and maintain their reputations for cleanliness in the community. Therefore, capturing and cleanly killing mice has become an extremely important, if not overriding, objective for millions of Americans.
However, most conventional means of killing mice have significant drawbacks and therefore are of limited utility. Mechanical mousetraps are generally difficult to properly set since their latching mechanisms are excessively sensitive. Also, such devices are often ineffective since knowing mice can devour the bait directly after falsely triggering the trap or indirectly without triggering the trap at all. Moreover, even when traditional mousetraps function properly, a user must clean up a significant mess and expend considerable time properly disposing of the dead mouse and preparing the surrounding area for normal use. Audible varmint-repellant devices do not kill mice at all. Instead, they scare mice away from certain areas in a home without preventing them from entering other areas in the home, such as bedrooms and dining rooms. Audible devices are therefore only operative in the immediate vicinity of where mice have been observed and not throughout the entirety of a building. Consequently, there is a pressing need for an electrical mouse trap that is capable of capturing and cleanly killing mice in all regions of the structure in which it is situated.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 155,486 to Cook (“Cook '486”) teaches an ornamental design for an animal trap. However, a mouse trap having the design of Cook '486 would be highly inefficient since it would allow mice to exit alive and unharmed.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 155,487 to Cook (“Cook '487”) teaches an ornamental design for an animal trap. However, a mouse trap having the design of Cook '487 would also be highly inefficient since it would allow mice to exit alive and unharmed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,456 to Boharski (“Boharski”) discloses a mouse trap. However, the mouse trap of Boharski holds mice alive and does not kill them.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,635 to Orsano (“Orsano”) teaches a signaling apparatus that indicates when a disposable animal trap has been triggered. However, Orsano does not provide a mouse trap.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,997 to Wilcox (“Wilcox”) discloses a stationary vacuum trap for vermin. However, the vacuum trap of Wilcox is not portable.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,623 to Celestine (“Celestine”) teaches a rodent trap. However, the rodent trap of Celestine holds mice alive and does not kill them.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,340 B1 to Nieves (“Nieves”) discloses an electronically actuated animal trap. However, the animal trap of Nieves holds mice alive and does not kill them.
While these devices may be suitable for the particular purposes employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.